Senate Bill 415 – the Voter Participation Rights Act requires the City of Mill Valley to switch from its current November, odd-year election date to either a June or November even-year statewide election date. At its March 20, 2017 Regular City Council meeting the Council discussed the matter and indicated that it would like to gather input from the community at-large before making a decision on the City’s transition plan.
SB 415 was signed into law on September 1, 2016, to address declining voter turnout in off-cycle, odd-year, Federal, state and municipal elections. Recent election cycles have experienced increasingly low voter turnout, and research suggests that when local governments choose to go on-cycle and align municipal elections with statewide elections in November, turnout increases. For the past four even-year November elections, Mill Valley’s average voter turnout was 71.81% -- a 34.21% increase from the last odd-year election. The voter turnout in June of even-numbered years is more robust than odd-years as well, showing a 6.12% increase from the last odd-year election.
The Council welcomes greater voter turnout but recognizes that campaigning during Presidential elections is more difficult due to higher campaign costs and may, by virtue of competition for voter attention brought by state and federal campaign efforts diminish focus on local issues and candidates. Councilmembers discussed a number of options including creating a one-time 4.5 year term and moving City election dates to June of even-numbered years.
We would like your input on this topic. Please indicate which of the following options City Council should adopt for future Mill Valley elections:
